Organisational theory is vitally relevant to today's student of business. Understanding Business Organisations introduces the student to classic debates and new perspectives on organisations through a wide ranging but approachable selection of readings.This text: * considers why organisations matter to employees and customers * discusses theories of the organisation as a mode of empowerment and of control.Examining these theories in the light of current programmes of organisational change gives the book a case study element that will be invaluable for teaching and learning.

Introduction Section 1: 1. Organisational Aspects of Business David Needle 2. The Communications and Financial Revolution and the Rise of the Multinational Corporation Paul Kennedy 3. Work in Traditional and Modern Societies Craig R Littler 4. Work C Wright Mills Section 2: 5. The Emergence of New Work Forms Graeme Salaman 6. Classic Theories of Bureaucracy Graeme Salaman 7. Work Organisations, Managerial Strategies and Control David Dunkerly 8. Studying Organisations: an Introduction Paul Thompson and David McHugh 9. Struggle and Resistance Graeme Salaman Section 3: 10. Re-inventing Organisation Man? Paul Thompson and David McHugh 11. Organisational Structuring and Restructuring Christopher Mabey, Graeme Salaman and John Storey 12. Beyond Organisational Structure: The End of Classical Forms? Christopher Mabey, Graeme Salaman and John Storey 13. Hands, Hearts and Minds, Changing Work and Workers at the End of the Century Chris Warhurst and Paul Thompson 14. Failure Richard Sennett.